Today we continue with part three of the series, “A Small Business Scorecard”. As a reminder, I’m calling this a scorecard, but the goal is not to arrive at a number and think “We got a 14, so we’re doing fine as is.” It’s more of a self-assessment & introspection tool. If a seemingly-negative item on the list doesn’t pertain to you, cross it off. Look at the items you circled / checked as “yep, this is us” as a milestone on the way to a stronger company. Some may need recurring attention. This week, we cover sales & management/leadership.
Sales
- Our sales team says they never have enough leads.
- The sales team feels our leads are properly qualified when they get them.
- Customers and prospects comment that our sales team was useful in helping them make a purchase decision.
- Salespeople often comment that they’re getting leads who aren’t suitable for our products / services.
- Our pipeline is difficult to confidently predict more than a couple of weeks out.
- We have quotas, but we aren’t involved in deciding what they should be.
- We close an acceptable-to-us percentage of sales when we have a highly-qualified lead.
- I feel confident when I give a solid lead to one of our salespeople.
- We have sales quotas – and we’re involved in determining those numbers.
- We’re constantly under pressure to make quota – and we know it’s because the company’s cash flow is precariously low.
- We get very few complaints about our sales team.
- Finance is always bugging us to give them pipeline information, but we can’t consistently tell them anticipated revenue more than a week or two in advance.
- Our sales team has an experienced leader.
- It’s not unusual to get comments that our sales team is pushy.
- Finance really appreciates that we can give them dependable sales pipeline info 30-60 days in advance, so they can depend on revenue in advance of receiving it.
- Sometimes people send in feedback saying our sales team is more interested in closing a sale than they are about helping customers decide on a purchase.
- We have more leads than our sales team can handle.
- Our sales quotas feel like impossible expectations rather than achievable goals based on lead flow.
- Our sales team is lead by the salesperson who usually sells the most.
- We have more highly-qualified leads than our sales team can handle.
- Our sales team easily handles all the leads we give them. They keep asking for more.
- Most days / weeks / months, our sales team can handle the leads assigned to them.
Management / Leadership
- You can ask any of our employees what motivates us as a company, or “What’s our why”. They all know.
- Our people are an investment in our business.
- We have to constantly watch our people to keep them working.
- Our managers are all family members who learned to manage here – and it’s worked great for years.
- Our people feel like a cost / expense.
- Sometimes new employees have to wait to get a phone, desk, computer, tools, or a space in the shop. Those things aren’t always / usually available on their first day.
- Employees know what our company long and short term goals are.
- We’re an open book company.
- Our managers are all family members who learned to manage here. I think the company would positively benefit from an experienced leader.
- We don’t share any financial performance information with our people.
- When a new employee get to their desk / work station / shop station on their first day, they have everything they need to get to work.
- We have a 401K.
- Team members don’t seem to connect their work with the company’s goals.
- It takes new employees a few weeks / months to get their act together and become effective.
- We routinely discuss the importance of 401K participation in our employees’ future.
- Our financial performance is none of our employees’ business.
- Any good manager could join us, learn our business, and be effective here.
- Only our family can manage this business.
- Our employees understand what makes our business profitable and sustainable.
- New employees often comment about how good / refreshing our on-boarding process is.
- We encourage our employees to educate themselves and offer ongoing training as well.
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